John Baird affirms support for Israel as former diplomats question Canada’s ability to contribute to peace in Gaza

Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia News11.21.2012

Israeli soldiers sleep near armoured personnel carriers (APC) at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on November 20, 2012, as talks aimed at securing a deal between the Jewish state and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers continue. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence.Menahem Kahana
/ AFP Photo

Palestinian children stand in the rubble left after an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world’s top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Demonstrators hold Israeli flags and sign quoting former Israeli politician Yitzhak Rabin "Peace has no borders", during a gathering close to the Israeli Embassy in Paris, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, to protest against the current conflict with Gaza strip. A diplomatic push to end Israel's nearly weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip gained momentum Tuesday, with Egypt's president predicting that air strikes would end within hours and Israel's prime minister saying his country would be a "willing partner" to a cease-fire with the Islamic militant group Hamas.(AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Parachute flares illuminate the Gaza Strip for an artillery barrage, hours before a proposed cease fire, on November 20, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Accorrding to reports, Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip have said that an Egyptian brokered ceasefire between Israel and Gaza militants is due to begin at midnight local time, but is unclear whether the Israelis have confirmed an agreement.Christopher Furlong
/ Getty Images

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird addresses the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this fall.Files
/ Postmedia News

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OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Tuesday condemned what he called an international blurring of the lines between Palestinian civilians and terrorists, and said a “litany of hatred” would not affect Canada’s support for Israel.

The comments were made as the international community was anxiously watching to see whether Israeli forces and Palestinian militant groups would implement a negotiated ceasefire after more than a week of fighting.

They also fed into a debate over whether the Harper government’s pro-Israel stand and abandonment of previous Middle East peace initiatives have undermined Canada’s ability to contribute to a comprehensive peace in the region.

Appearing as the guest of honour at a major Jewish fundraising dinner in Ottawa, Baird condemned the recent Palestinian rocket attacks and argued that Israel is treated with a double standard.

He said a rise in anti-Semitism “purposely blurs the lines between Palestinian civilians and Hamas terrorists.

“It turns a blind eye to the fact that if any other state were suffering from terrorism as Israel does today, there would be no question of its right to defend itself,” Baird said, according to a text of his speech.

“This is a self-evident right, indeed a responsibility, in every case — except when the question turns to Israel’s obligation to protect its citizens from rocket attacks.”

The minister reaffirmed the Harper government’s unbending support for the Jewish state in its moment of need — even if that results in Canada and the federal government facing domestic and international criticism.

Baird said Canada’s support for Israel has in the past resulted in “a litany of hatred” directed toward the government, and that he himself had endured a “barrage of vile reaction” moments after putting out statements supporting the Jewish state.

“True friends are measured by whether they are there for you when you need them most,” Baird said.

“Hamas is targeting innocent civilians with an onslaught of rockets,” he added. “It’s a despicable act of terror, and yet as Israel responds, as it has every right to, it is the target of condemnation. Canada, however, stands by Israel’s side.”

Baird was speaking at the end of a long day of diplomatic negotiations in the Middle East, where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and other leaders were trying to negotiate an end to the fighting.

Media reports indicated that Israeli air strikes and Palestinian rocket attacks were continuing as darkness fell. Five Israelis and more than 100 Palestinians have been reported killed in the violence, and dozens more have been wounded.

Since the conflict began, the Harper government has refused to join countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the head of the UN in calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Instead, Canada has followed the U.S. in affirming Israel’s right to defend itself and pushing for a long-term, comprehensive peace agreement. They have also called on both sides to minimize civilian casualties.

The Harper government took a similar position when Israeli forces and Palestinian militant groups fought in December 2008 and January 2009.

Shimon Fogel, head of the Toronto-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said simply agreeing to an immediate ceasefire without ensuring agreement from Palestinian militant groups that they won’t attack again is a recipe for failure.

“These temporary short-term ceasefires really are no solution at all,” he said. “All they are is a temporary halt to the exchanges that really don’t advance peace, and in a sense prolongs confrontation.”

Gil Troy, a Middle East expert at McGill University, agreed that there is a need to move beyond simply delaying the conflict to another day.

“The Canadian position makes sense in that there’s fear of just going right back to the beginning with this,” he said from Jerusalem. “And something has to stop. So to take a position that it’s time to get a little more clarity makes sense.”

But two former Canadian diplomats who have spent years working with all sides to find ways to bring about real peace in the Middle East argue it’s one thing to call for a long-term peace and another to contribute to one.

And on that count, they say, the Harper government is failing.

“You can’t be in the business of promoting peace if you’re all on one side,” said Mike Molloy, who served as Canada’s special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process from 2000 to 2003, and is now co-director of the Jerusalem Old City Initiative.

“There is a contradiction.”

Michael Bell, who served as Canada’s ambassador to Israel for nearly seven years, said trust is the most essential thing needed to bring Palestinians and Israelis together to resolve the conflict.

While he wasn’t encouraging the Harper government to develop a working relationship with Hamas, Bell said Canada used to play a key role in trying to build trust between Palestinians and Israelis.

Many of those efforts have been abandoned or scaled back under the Harper government, including its leadership on the question of what to do about Palestinian refugees, and the elimination of a Middle East peace unit at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Bell said there is little chance Canada can recapture that role as long as the Conservatives’ continue their current support for Israel.

“In my experience, in order to be effective on these questions, one has to have a certain amount of credibility and be viewed as legitimate by the major players on both sides,” he said. “And if we don’t have that, then we’re speaking only to one side.”

But while Troy said that may be true, he felt the Harper government has decided to try a different tactic from the “old Canadian diplomacy” towards the Middle East, which focused on creating a balance of power between Israelis and Palestinians.

“There’s a direct correlation between Israel’s comfort level and Israel’s willingness to create peace,” he said. “Which means that the more de-legitimization there is, the more hostility there is, the more the fight is an existential effort to wipe Israel out instead of a border conflict. And the less chance there is for peace.”

“If Israel knows that Canada has Israel’s back, and if Israel knows that there are other countries in the world that are saying to the Palestinians ‘stop this de-legitimization,’ then the theory, and it’s all theory, they will be more openness to compromise.”

lberthiaume(at)postmedia.com

Twitter:/leeberthiaume

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John Baird affirms support for Israel as former diplomats question Canada’s ability to contribute to peace in Gaza

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